


Rail Road

by HellsLittleLiar



Series: Prompts [18]
Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Fluff, M/M, Mutual Pining, Unresolved Sexual Tension
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-10
Updated: 2015-11-16
Packaged: 2018-05-01 01:00:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,411
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5186222
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HellsLittleLiar/pseuds/HellsLittleLiar
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tony is a mechanic and Steve is a train driver.</p><p>Steve keeps "breaking" his train's engine by "accident".<br/>Yeah, Steve, sure.</p><p>Part 18 of my 100 Prompts Challenge.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. A Broken Engine?

“Thanks, Mr. Stark.” Steve said, as the mechanic stepped away from the engine. The train hadn’t had anything wrong with it initially but Steve had just had it repaired the week before and was overcome with an uncontrollable need to see the gorgeous mechanic again, so Steve had ripped out a couple of engine pieces and called up the man.

Tony grinned back at Steve. “No worries, just give me a call if you have anything else I can…” he paused and let his eyes drag slowly up Steve’s body, lingering on his crotch and his prominent chest and arm muscles before landing on his face. “...fix.”  
The mechanic smirked and sauntered away, leaving a cherry red Steve Rogers behind him.

 

Steve’s friends were waiting for him, crammed into his shitty one bedroom apartment, when he got home. Bucky, Sam and Natasha were assholes. They were his best friends and he loved them but they were assholes.  
“So,” Natasha grinned evilly. “How did it go with the hot mechanic?”  
Steve remembered that his face was still red from the flirtatious encounter.  
“Good.” He managed to reply. “He fixed the train’s engine. It should be fine next time I go out so-”  
The three of them let out loud and annoyed groans.  
“C’mon, Stevie, give us the details!” Moaned Bucky.  
“Details! Details! Details!” Natasha and Sam chanted creepily in the background.  
Steve stared at them. “Christ, it’s like you’ve been possessed by demons or something.”  
“Details!” They continued to chant with Bucky joining in, getting continuously louder until they were almost shrieking. “DETAILS! DETAILS! DETAILS!”  
“ALRIGHT!” snapped Steve. “I’ll give you details.”  
They cheered.

Tony was still sauntering by the time he reached his penthouse apartment. His friends, as always, were lulling around waiting for him to come home and tell them all the gossip. Pepper was on her tablet, probably working away, Rhodey was watching television and eating pizza and Bruce was in the kitchen, seemingly doing some sort of chemical experiment.  
Bruce was the first to notice him and smiled guiltily. “It was supposed to be a chocolate cake.”  
Tony laughed. “No worries, Big Guy, I can just buy you one.”  
Pepper and Rhodey snapped their attention to him. Man, they were freaky when they did things in sync.  
“So.” Started Pepper.  
“How’d it go?” Finished Rhodey.  
That was weird too - they did it on purpose because they knew he didn’t like it and just to add insult to the injury, they tilted their heads curiously at the same time.  
Tony grinned any way.   
“Hot train driver totally damaged the engine on purpose - he’s looking for an excuse to see me!” He laughed.  
“Why doesn’t he just ask you out?” Bruce asked.  
“Hell if I know.”  
Pepper cooed. “Maybe he’s shy.”  
Rhodey shrugged, unconvinced, “Maybe he’s not trying to ask you out and he’s just a weirdo psychopath who damages things?”  
Tony scowled. “Wow, Rhodey, way to be a downer.”

Steve didn’t know why he thought this was a good idea. He watched as Tony bent over the engine - his nicely curved bubble butt on display for Steve to ogle - and felt the heat rushing up to his face. He needed to stop blushing. Tony was going to catch on! He hadn’t removed anything this time, trying not to make it seem obvious, merely disconnecting some necessary parts. He had called Tony up to come and take a look. After all, Tony had said to call him if anything else needed fixing. Steve’s face, if possible, burnt a darker shade of red as he remembered the mechanic’s amorous gaze casting over him appreciatively.

Tony smirked to himself as he purposely bent over the engine of the train seductively, before straightening out his face and casting a look at the muscular blonde train driver hovering over his shoulder. The man’s face was cherry red. Nice.  
“Your engine’s fine, you’ve just got a couple of disconnected parts - I can put them back in to place for you. No charge.”  
Steve was doing a very bad job at pulling a surprised expression.   
“Thanks so much, Mr. Stark, I really appreciate you coming out here and looking at it. I know you’re busy.” Steve grinned sheepishly.  
Wasn’t that adorable.  
“No problem, Steve, and call me Tony. I have a feeling we’re going to be seeing a lot of each other.” Tony grinned back.  
Tony could have sworn that Steve’s smile dropped for just a second before it was put firmly back in place.

“He knows!” Steve wailed, flopping face first down on the couch, his face landing in Sam’s lap. Sam ran a hand through his hair and Steve purred.   
“I’m sure he doesn’t know.” Sam reassured him. “You’re probably just imagining things because you’re feeling guilty about lying to him.”  
Steve peeked up at him. “But you didn’t hear what he said, Sam!”  
“Go on then, tell me what he said.”  
“He said that he had a feeling we’ll be seeing a lot more of each other! He knows what I’m doing! He knows what I’m doing and he still came out! I’m such a creep, Sam.”  
Sam rolled his eyes fondly at his big, dumb, blonde friend. “Okay, man, let’s look at this logically. You think he knows that you’re breaking the engine on purpose? And he still came anyway? Isn’t that a major indicator that hot mechanic guy-”  
“Tony.”  
“-That HOT MECHANIC GUY likes you too?” He suggested, reasonably.  
“Not necessarily. He probably thinks I’m some sort of violent weirdo who trashes his own stuff out of enjoyment!”  
Sam leaned back in his seat and sighed.

Tony was extremely pleased with himself. He knew for certain that Hot Train Driver Steve was interested in him. Now he just had to ask the man out or get his number to organise a date. Steve already had Tony’s number, as Tony was his on call mechanic.

Steve couldn’t believe the nerve of his own brain. It had practically rebelled at the thought of never seeing Tony again, as Steve had decided it was best not to keep calling him to fix imaginary problems like a creepy stalker. He had gone out for a walk to try to clear his head and force down his disappointment, however he had ended up hovering outside the Stark auto shop. What the hell was wrong with him? On a level from one to creepy stalker, this was so much worse than calling Tony with imaginary problems. This was turning up at the man’s work without invitation or reason and what made it even more humiliating was that Steve was almost certain that the floor on top of the shop was an apartment - which meant that this was where Tony lived as well.

Tony peered out of the window of his apartment and almost had a heart attack. Steve was looking up from the street outside. Tony shot back into his apartment before the blonde man could see him. Why was he there? Did he pretend to break his engine again? Why wouldn’t he just phone Tony up instead, as he always did? Maybe he really broke his engine this time. Maybe he was just lost and didn’t realise where he was.  
There was only one way to find out. Tony pasted on a smirk and strolled leisurely downstairs into his shop and onto the street.

“Hey, Steve.”  
Steve froze and then turned back to the shop. He had just decided to walk away now before Tony saw him being a total creep. Well, this is what he got.   
“Hey, Tony.” He tried to seem casual by leaning his shoulder against the wall of the building and shoving his hands in his pockets. “How’s it going?”  
Tony looked amused. Oh dear. “It’s going fine. How are you? Has your engine broken again?”  
“No. What would make you think that?” Steve denied, like a complete idiot.  
“No?” Tony raised an eyebrow, amusedly. “Then why are you at my shop?”  
“I- I- “ Steve stuttered. “Will you go on a date with me?” He finally blurted.  
Oh no. Oh no oh no oh no. He had not just said that.

Oh yes. Oh yes oh yes oh yes. Steve had totally just said that.  
Steve had just asked Tony out on a date! Tony thought he could probably die happy now, well, after his date, of course. He had better answer quickly though because it looked like the train driver was having some sort of aneurysm. 

Tony practically beamed at him and Steve just about sunk into the floor.  
“I’d love to go on a date with you!” Tony enthused.  
Steve perked up. “R-really?” He had not been expecting a positive response at all, let alone one that enthusiastic. “Then how about on Friday? At 8? I’ll text you the details?”  
Tony thrust his phone at Steve. “But Stevie, how will I ever know it’s you without your number?” He fluttered his long, delicate eyelashes. Steve gulped and took the phone to enter in his own number. 

Tony was fucking delighted. This was the best day ever. Steve had asked him out on a date and given him his number after seeking him out where Tony worked!   
Tony gave Steve one last look over. “I’ll see you Friday, Hot Stuff.” He purred, before turning around and sauntering back into his workshop. 

Tony made absolute certain that Steve wasn’t watching him when he pumped his fist in the air. A date! He got a date with the hottest and sweetest man alive and he didn’t even have to do anything! Steve came to him! Steve deliberately seeked him out and asked him on a date. This was the actual best day of Tony’s life so far.

Steve made sure Tony was inside and not watching him when he turned tail and ran back to his apartment. That had gone so much better than he would have thought. Tony didn’t think he was some sort of creepy stalker. Steve sighed, letting his eyes droop closed in relief.   
Then Steve’s eyes shot open. A date! He had asked Tony on a date! He had asked Tony on a date and Tony said yes and now he and Tony were going on a date. And he had given Tony his number. Steve felt very proud of himself for holding back his (incredibly manly) squeal of delight. He was very glad he held back, as when he entered his apartment he found his friends lounging around his living room once more. He glared at them.   
“I don’t know which one of you has the key to my apartment but you had better hand it over right now.” 

Steve wasn’t really mad - how could he be? The most adorable, kind hearted man Steve had ever met had just agreed to a date with him. Besides, he loved his friends really. His lips twitched as he watched them all shift guiltily and then one by one offered him their keys.   
He blinked in surprise.  
“You all had a key? What the hell? I know I didn’t get that many made.”  
Natasha smiled mysteriously, the only one to have not presented her key. “We are people of many skills, Steve.”  
Steve rolled his eyes. “You took my spare key and had a copy of that cut, didn’t you?”  
“Many, MANY skills, Steve.” Natasha emphasised.  
“Okay, Natasha.”  
“Many.”  
“Alright, I really don’t care. Who wants to hear what just happened to me?”  
Bucky and Sam shot up from their seats and Natasha looked slightly more attentive.  
“What happened?” Sam asked.  
Steve grinned widely.  
“I just asked Tony out on a date!” He announced.

Tony rang up Pepper as soon as he got back up to his apartment and after he had finished his impromptu victory dance. “Guess what just haappeeennedd!?” He sang.  
Pepper sighed. Tony can’t this wait? I’m a bit busy here - not all of us own our own businesses, you know? Some of us have work and bosses.”  
“No! Pepper, don’t hang up on me!” Tony pleaded. “It really is important!”  
“Go on, then, what is it?”  
Tony could tell that she was just humouring him and would hang up the phone if she decided his reason was stupid. Well, it wasn’t and she should be sorry for doubting him! Hmph!  
“Steve just asked me on a date!”  
There was a pause. Then “Finally!” Pepper declared before hanging up the phone.  
Huh.  
Tony had been sure that his reason wasn’t stupid this time.


	2. The Date

Steve dug through his wardrobe, throwing clothes over his shoulder as he debated them then cast them aside.  
“And I thought you couldn’t get any more like a sappy teenage girl regarding your relationship with the hot mechanic.” Bucky sniped. His friends were very accepting of his sexuality, but they were also very annoying. Not only did they tease him about his crush but they also refused to call Tony by his name, or anything other that “Hot Mechanic”. This was likely to remind him that it was how he referred to the man before he even knew his name.  
Steve glared over his shoulder, then turned back to the wardrobe, deciding to ignore the idiot currently lying on his bed eating cereal - his cereal! - dry out of the box. Heathen.  
Another white T-shirt flew over his shoulder. A plaid shirt. Some blue jeans. Another white shirt. A pair of boots for good measure.  
“Ow!”  
“Oops.” Steve said innocently. “Didn’t see you there, Buck.”  
“Of course you didn’t see me! You’re just blindly throwing things about and hoping they hit me! And nobody ever believes me when I tell them you’re an asshole!”  
“Well what about you?”  
“What about me, what?”  
“You said you would help!”  
“I said I would help you find an outfit once you decide where you’re going and you haven’t yet, have you? Where do you think he’ll like?”  
“I don’t knoooowwww!” Steve wailed. “What if he hates what I decide?” He sniffled.  
“Oh God, fuck, Steve, don’t- don’t be upset, okay. He’s going to love whatever you pick and if he doesn’t and says anything about it then he can answer to my fist in his face!” Bucky reassured him.  
“Bucky!” Steve scolded, half laughing. Bucky grinned back.

Tony couldn’t stop fidgeting. He was too excited for this date that Steve was planning. For him!  
(Steve had asked him on a date!!!)   
“Tony, stop fidgeting.” Pepper hissed. “I’m trying to watch the movie.”   
Tony is sure he would be interested in the movie if he had not been distracted but alas - distractions abound. And by distraction he meant the thoughts of his own mind. About Steve. He had been constantly thinking about Steve since he had accepted the date request and did not think that he was capable of stopping -or even wanted to stop- any time soon. Or ever. He could just waste away his days not thinking of anything except Steve.  
That sounded like a pretty good life to him. In fact, maybe he would text his date right now.

/Hey Steve, looking forward to Friday. Where are we going?/

There. That should do it. Not too obviously obsessed with a client that he barely knows (even if the client did fake breaking his engine several times just to see Tony. Tony didn’t want to come off as desperate.  
He would wait until at least a few weeks into their relationship before he revealed to Steve how clingy he was. (Thinking about a relationship already? A voice in the back of his head teased. I thought it was just a date? The voice sounded like Rhodey. Tony did not appreciate it.)  
He fidgeted again and Pepper let out a frustrated groan.

Steve stared at his phone in horror.  
“What are you being an over dramatic drama queen about now, Steve?” Bucky asked.  
“He text me.” Steve squeaked.  
“So? Breathe, Steve. Remember to breathe. What did he say?”   
“He - he said that he’s looking forward to Friday and he asked me where we’re going.”  
Steve put his phone back down on his bedside table. Please not now.  
“Well?” Bucky demanded.  
“Well, what? Aren’t you going to answer him?”   
“No! I can’t do that!”  
“Why the hell not?”  
“I told you! I don’t know where we’re going yet! I can’t answer his question!”  
Bucky rolled his eyes at Steve, which Steve did not appreciate when he felt like he was about to pass out at the anxiety of it.  
“So just tell him you haven’t decided yet.”  
“I can’t do that either!”  
“Why the hell not?”   
This conversation was beginning to feel repetitive.   
“Because then he’ll think that I don’t care enough about this date to even organise it properly before I asked him on it or that I’m disorganised and on drugs for thinking that someone like him wants to go out with a guy like me.”  
Bucky’s eyes softened. “Steve, you are the best man I have ever met. You are kind and generous and pretty damn handsome, even if I do say so myself. And you’re my best friend. And that means that this guy won’t think all of this stuff and if he does think any of it then I am going to knock his lights out.”  
Steve smiled softly at his friend. “Thanks, Bucky, you’re the best, even if you are a jerk sometimes.”  
Bucky grinned back fondly. “Punk.”

Tony stared at his phone. It had been at least fifteen minutes since he had watched the “seen” sign pop up with excitement. Excitement that was now dying slowly because obviously Steve wasn’t as interested in Tony as Tony had first thought. Steve had clearly been playing along with Tony’s little crush just to be kind -or just to mess with his head. Steve seemed like a nice person but Tony really didn’t know him that well. For all he knew, Steve was the type of person to mess with someone’s head and then stand them up or ignore them forever. Just when Tony felt like he was about to fall into a swirling cesspit of despair and self-loathing (and he had been doing so well with that recently) his phone pinged as a message appeared on his screen.

/I’m looking forward to Friday too! :) I can’t decide where to go though. Do you have any ideas?/

Had that been all it was? Steve hadn’t known how to answer Tony’s question so he was deciding what to say? That was the most adorable thing Tony could ever imagine. He pictured Steve sitting there, concentrating on his phone with his pink tongue sticking out his mouth.  
Tony wanted to suck that tongue into his own mouth.  
And his thoughts on Steve turned positive once again.

Steve had found the perfect solution to his dilemma by asking Tony where he wanted to go. He was feeling rather proud of himself and could not help the smug smile sprawled across his face. Bucky kept glancing at the smile and snorting in amusement. Steve didn’t care.   
His phone buzzed and he checked it immediately. Tony.

/I know a cafe we could go to if you want? x/

Steve gaped and a blush rose to his cheeks and ears.  
That was a kiss. Tony had just texted him with a kiss.

Tony peered at his phone. Steve hadn’t answered for 8 and a half minutes now. Maybe he was just a very slow typer? Tony didn’t know how slow he would have to be to last 15 minutes typing but it didn’t seem very realistic if he was honest with himself. What was going on?  
Tony checked his message to make sure he hadn’t sent something offensive. He had not. He had simply added a kiss. Maybe it was the kiss? Was that it? Was Steve freaked out by the kiss? But Tony had implied way worse things than kissing when he flirted with Steve!  
Was it different now that they were having a date? Did Tony need to respect boundaries Steve has now but hadn’t had before? Or maybe it was the opposite. Was Steve not interested in anything more than a physical relationship?  
Tony wouldn’t protest being fuck buddies with Steve but for some reason the idea pained him.

“For God’s sake, Steve.” Bucky was getting incredibly frustrated with his lovesick best friend. “It’s just a kiss on a text message. It’s not like he grabbed you and lay one on you in real life.”  
Steve felt his entire face burning at the thought and Bucky made a disgusted noise.   
“Oh, Dude, I do not need to know whatever the hell it is that you’re thinking right now.”  
“Nothing!” Steve quickly denied. “It’s just- what if he didn’t mean to put it? What if it was an accident and then I put one back and then I seem clingy and then he won’t want to go out any more.”  
Bucky stared. “I thought we’d gotten over this!”  
Steve put his head in his hands and whined.

Tony willed his phone to show him a message from Steve so hard that he almost completely missed Steve actually sending him a message.

/Sounds good. I’ll meet you at your workshop? :) x/

Tony’s heart skipped a beat. Steve did like him! Steve liked him enough to give him a kiss back. Even if it was a digital kiss and not an actual one. Well, if Tony did well on this date then there was a chance of getting an actual, real life kiss from Steve! As if he could be any more excited! He sent back a smiley face to show his agreement to the plan (not forgetting to put a kiss afterwards.)  
Tony was super pumped about this date and Pepper could make aggravated noises all she wanted, he knew she secretly loved him really. He smiled and burrowed down into the soft blanket on the sofa Pepper and he were sharing. She really was his best friend. Female friend. Whatever. Don’t tell Rhodey.

A few days later, on the ominously looming date night, Steve was buried back in his closet and his friends were about to strangle him.  
Natasha sighed. “You realise this man has seen you in your train driver uniform, right? You’re a handsome man, but not even you can pull off an outfit like that.”  
Steve looked stricken. “Oh God, he’s seen me in my uniform. That’s the least attractive thing ever. Oh no, he probably doesn’t even like me and is just taking pity on me and my ugly clothes.”  
“That’s not what I meant, idiot.” Natasha hit him upside the head.  
“Ow.”  
“The man agreed to go on a date with you because he likes you, despite or even maybe partly because you are unashamed of the ugly clothes you work in.”  
Sam shot through the door, holding a bag.  
They all blinked at him.   
“What? You better not have chosen an outfit, yet, Rogers, ‘cause I have just found the absolute perfect one for you.”  
“Since when are you a fashion guru?” Grunted Bucky.  
“Since our friend, Steve, over here, turned into a walking fashion disaster!”  
Sam threw the bag at Steve. “Try these on.” He ordered and Steve felt an absurd impulse to fall into parade rest, snap Sam a salute and say “Sir, yes, Sir!”

 

Tony fixed his shirt’s collar for the third (or fourth… or fifth) time in who knows how many minutes. He had done pretty well picking out a date outfit, he thought. Pepper and Rhodey didn’t have any arguments about it and if they weren’t ribbing him then that was high praise from the two of them. The outfit consisted of a dark red band shirt, black skinny jeans, a black business jacket and a pair of red converse. Not bad for a date at a cafe, he decided. He wondered what Steve wore and hoped it was something tight around the areas he wanted to ogle.   
There was a knock on the workshop door and Tony gathered his nerves before walking over to open it, his mouth almost dropping in the process.  
Steve was standing at his door with a sheepish smile in place and a slightly pink flush to his cheeks. He was wearing a dark blue silk button up shirt; tight, tight black skinny jeans (Tony refused to let himself moan out loud.) and a pair of black construction boots. His shirt matched his eyes. In his hand there was a bouquet of red, white and yellow roses.

Steve couldn’t breathe. Tony looked gorgeous.  
While he had been freaking out about Tony seeing him in his uniform, he had completely forgotten that Tony had always worn baggy overalls when he was working as a mechanic. Until now. He had just been reminded.  
Steve shuffled his feet and looked down, breaking eye contact with the handsome man in front of him. This forced him to look at the flowers he brought (what was he thinking? Roses for the first date?). He lifted them and offered the bouquet to Tony, still blushing.  
“Here, these are for you.” He hoped Tony didn’t think that Steve thought he was a girl. That would be terrible. Despite Steve’s hesitation, Tony accepted the flowers immediately, beaming at them.  
“Come in.” He said, stepping aside to let Steve through. “I’ll just put these in some water and then we can go.”

Steve walked in and looked around like a deer in the headlights. He must be nervous, Tony thought, how cute. And Tony wasn’t even being sarcastic about it. The muscular, six foot tall, blond man he had in his workshop was the most adorable thing he had ever seen. Tony hurried to find a vase, finally just filling a pint glass with water before dropping the flowers in. He returned quickly to Steve’s side.  
“So,” He smiled, charmingly. “Are you ready to go?”  
The colour in Steve’s cheeks seemed to come back full force before he answered and Tony tucked his hand into the crook of Steve’s elbow “Of course. Lead the way.”

Steve knew his face was red, he just wished he could make it stop happening in public or anywhere really, but especially around Tony, as that is where it seemed to love acting up. Tony wasn’t helping either- touching Steve all over (okay, just his elbow but it was still somehow alluring! That was not fair. That was not fair at all). After what seemed like only seconds of walking, they reached the cafe that Tony had suggested. Steve looked back down the street and saw Tony’s workshop several buildings down. Oh. It had only been seconds. Steve wished it could have been longer so he would have been able to savour the time he escorted Tony down the street on his arm. In the next moment, Steve did not mind that Tony was no longer on his arm, as the smaller man had trailed his fingers down Steve’s arm until they reached his hand. Tony grabbed his hand and pulled him in to the cafe.

“Come on, Steve, I know you’re going to love this place! It’s my favourite place to get coffee after all night work binges.”  
Steve wanted to frown at Tony but found that he couldn’t quite manage to maintain a negative expression. All night work binges did not sound healthy. Instead he smiled at the man. “Your favourite? Then I’m sure it will be amazing.” Steve assured him. Tony grinned contentedly up at him and Steve felt his heart beat a little faster in his chest.  
Ba-bump. Ba-bump. Ba-bump ba-bump ba-bump.  
Tony lead Steve over to a table for two right next to a large window. The view was incredible. Opposite the little cafe, there were no buildings so Steve could see directly over to the beach and the ocean. The golden sand on the beach glittered in the burning Malibu sun, as the turquoise waves crashed against the land.   
Steve would love to draw the breathtaking sight. He stared out of the window before he caught the movement of Tony sitting down out of the corner of his eye. He returned his attention to his date. There was another breathtaking sight that he would love to draw, but for now would just soak in.

Tony stared at the expression on Steve’s face. He knew the cafe had an amazing view but he didn’t realise that it would have an impact on someone like that. Steve kept staring out of the window for several minutes, before Tony sat down and he followed automatically.   
“So,” Tony decided to start off the getting to know each other part of the date. “What had you so caught up in the view?”  
Steve ducked his head, his cheeks blushing pink. Oh, Tony loved that blush.  
“Well, it’s just- I like to draw and it- it would be a nice thing to draw.”

Steve was horrified. (It would be a nice thing to draw? Really, Steve? What the hell? Why couldn’t he be a normal person and why wasn’t he capable of doing anything even remotely flirty without screwing it up completely?)  
“An artist, huh?” Tony answered.  
“I- I’m not an actual artist though. I mean- I don’t get paid to do it or anything. It’s just a- a hobby.”  
Tony seemed to consider this. “I bet you’re amazing.” He declared.  
“Oh.” Steve was surprised. Nobody had shown interest in his art except for his friends for the longest time. “Would you like to see them sometime?”  
Where had that come from? That was almost as bad as asking Tony to come up to his apartment to see his ‘etchings’.  
Tony seemed pleased with his offer, though. “Sure, I’d love to.”

Tony was very smug. He thought the date was going very well. Steve liked the view from the cafe so much that he had wanted to draw it! And Tony had learnt that Steve was an artist and he had gotten what was pretty much a guarantee of being given a second date! He had wanted to burst out laughing at Steve offering to ‘show him his art’. (Just like Tony had invited him ‘for coffee’). It was like they were two walking cliches.   
They perused the menus, both deciding that as well as coffee they were also pretty thirsty. Tony had never actually eaten anything here before, preferring to get a coffee, drink it and then leave, so he had no idea what was good and hoped that Steve didn’t ask him what he recommended. 

“What do you recommend to eat?”  
God damn it. It had been going so well, too.

Tony looked startled, as though he hadn’t been expecting this question about a place he frequents from someone completely new to that place.  
“U-uh, the coffee.”  
Steve laughed. “You can’t eat coffee, Tony.” So that was why- he didn’t actually have the answer.  
“You can try!”  
Steve couldn’t believe it- Tony had actually taken him on a lunch date to a place he had never actually had lunch, despite frequenting there several times before. That was so… endearingly adorable of him. It was such a silly, sweet move that Steve couldn’t help but laugh.

Tony felt a flush of white hot humiliation running down his spine and across his face. Steve was laughing at him and his awful, botched attempt at a date. Tony felt the back of his neck turning pink and ducked his head to hide his face in the menu. He was such an idiot! Why had he not tried the food before bringing Steve here? Of course Steve would want food! This was a date- what kind of date didn’t even have food? What the fuck was he thinking.  
Tony suddenly found a large hand gently pulling down his menu, so he was forced to look directly in to Steve’s gentle, kind blue eyes. He hoped the man was not too disappointed in him. Steve smiled sweetly.   
“You are so cute.”  
Him? Tony? Cute? Steve was calling him cute! Wait. Steve was calling him cute.  
Tony squawked.   
“Cute! I am not cute!” He denied. His ego was riding on this. “I am hot or a handsome devil at the very least, but I am not cute!”

Steve had noticed that Tony seemed very embarrassed by his lack of knowledge of the menu, for some reason, so he had decided that Tony needed cheering up- or distracting at the very least. So he had called him cute, which was not actually like Steve at all. He was not the sort of person to be boldly flirty, even if he was on a date at the time. Maybe Tony was drawing out a more confident side of him, he had thought, but then Tony had to go and reply. He had made the most adorable little squeaking sound at the thought of being called cute, which did not help Tony’s argument at all. But then he had called himself hot and a handsome devil and he had quirked his eyebrows and looked at Steve with such a “come hither” look that Steve could have fallen to his knees and sucked Tony off in the middle of the cafe right in front of every person there if that was what Tony asked. At the thought of this, Steve had turned an awful shade of red and had regretted distracting Tony from the food discussion.

Tony watched as red ran across Steve’s face and wondered what he was thinking. All Tony had said was that he was not cute in any way and Steve had coloured quite quickly after that. Tony could ask Steve what he was thinking. Maybe he was considering what the handsome devil could do to him. Oh fuck yes. On the other hand, he could also try and see how red Steve could get. The second one. Yeah, he thought, let’s go with the second one. He had obviously somehow smoothly recovered from his blunder with the food and now he was ready and willing to make up for it as soon as possible by being as flirty as he possibly could. He smoothed his face in to a suave expression and shifted his chair a bit closer to Steve’s chair.  
“I may not be cute-”  
Steve opened his mouth, most likely to protest this statement.  
“-but you sure are.”

Steve felt as though his face had burst in to flames and his mind went suddenly blank as he attempted to process what Tony had said. Nobody had ever called him cute before. He did not attract anyone when he was younger and was barely skin and bones and then when he had joined the army before being honourably discharged, he had bulked up. But nobody had called him cute even then- most people were now too intimidated by the size of him to even consider talking to him and the only people who complimented him were his friends. However, his friends mostly liked to compliment people on their skills rather than their appearance and whatever comments they did give consisted of “You are already hot, Rogers, stop taking so long to pick an outfit, for God’s sake, we’re going to be late.”  
His face could not get any redder, he was sure, it was impossible. If his face got any more red he would turn purple or actually burst in to physical flames. At least he wasn’t alone in his blushing- even if Tony did only seem to blush a darling, delicate pink at the back of his neck that had not been noticeable until he had ducked his head in to the menu in embarrassment.

Tony grinned. He had started to get back in to the swing of things on this date! He was no longer embarrassed about his lack of knowledge of the food on the menu (thanks to Steve) despite knowing every single coffee they served, the ingredients and the prices of each of them off by heart (but Steve did not need to know that). He had Steve blushing uncontrollably, a bit worryingly as it seemed that all of his blood was rushing to his head, but he was intrigued by the red that seemed to be disappearing underneath the blond man’s shirt. Was Steve a full body blusher? Was it just his chest? Tony licked his lips. Just how far down did that blush go? He would love to find out. Tony blinked then shook his head to clear it. No. He was being a gentlemen on this date- Steve deserved nothing less. Even if Tony did want to bend the other man over this table and fuck him.

Steve could not help but notice the hungry look in Tony’s eyes. He wondered if the man was just ravenous for lunch (unlikely as he seemed to exist solely on coffee) or if he was craving something else (just as Steve was…). Steve fidgeted around in his seat. He swallowed and hoped that Tony would want to… extend this date further once they had had their lunch and their coffee. Steve could not believe that they had barely even started their first date and he was already fantasising about making love to each other. He had felt embarrassed more times on this date than any other date he had been on but somehow that was perfectly okay. It was his natural state of being when he was around Tony anyway. There was not much point changing it now. 

They continued on their date in the quiet little cafe for hours and would have stayed gazing in to each other’s eyes until the sun rose if it was only up to them. However at around 9:00pm, a waitress approached them and told them that they were closing up for the night. Tony and Steve were both disappointed but did not want to display it to the other. Steve insisted on walking Tony back to his door, which Tony found incredibly sweet- he was so cute and old fashioned. Tony felt like something out of a victorian romance novel. Ahem. Not that he read those. Tony wasn’t entirely sure how he was supposed to end the night but Steve hovered outside his door with a hopeful look on his face, so Tony leaned up and pressed their lips together for a succulently drawn out kiss good night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So... I hope you guys enjoyed seeing them on the date. :)  
> Please leave a review. I'm sorry it took so long but I have had a pretty terrible week and lost a lot of motivation to write.
> 
> Part 18 (Section Two) of my 100 Prompts challenge.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed it! I really enjoyed writing this one even if it did take quite a while and I lost my motivation in the middle. 
> 
> Please do leave a review.
> 
> Part 18 of my 100 Prompts Challenge.
> 
> ___________
> 
> You can now subscribe to my patreon to see original works from me! :)  
> https://www.patreon.com/hellslittleliar


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